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The Development of Open Access Repositories in the Asia-Oceania Region: A Case Study of Three Institutions

« In recent years, open access models of publishing have transcended traditional modes thus enabling freer access to research. This paper takes a trans-regional approach to examining open access publishing in the Asia and Oceania region focussing on three institutions– Charles Darwin University in Australia, University of Hong Kong, and University of Malaya in Malaysia – reflecting on how each is rising, in its own individual way, to meet the range of challenges that its research communities are facing. Specifically, it focuses on open access and institutional repository development, and traces their development at each of the aforementioned institutions. The study is based on interviews conducted with staff involved with the development of each repository, and the open access collection in particular, at each of the three institutions. The findings reveal that each of the three institutions is at a different stage of development, with the University of Hong Kong repository ranked at the top within Asia; each has used a slightly different approach toward open access, and used different software to develop their repository. The authors collate the overall experiences of each institution in open access publishing and repository development, and highlight the successes and failures that each has experienced in reaching the level that they are at today. A series of guidelines, which will be of value to institutions in the region at various levels of development, are presented. »

URL : The Development of Open Access Repositories in the Asia-Oceania Region

Alternative URL : http://library.ifla.org/1043/

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E-Dissertations: Access and Restrictions (EDAR) Survey 2014 Report

« European and American studies on electronic theses and dissertations (ETD) reveal that one part of digital PhD theses, even if not confidential, is limited to on-campus access and/or under embargo. A French-German research team conducted a survey with a small sample of academic libraries and graduate schools in France and Germany (16,508 theses) on the situation and tendencies from 2009 to 2012. Digital theses represent 38% of the whole sample. 84% digital theses are Open Access while 5% are limited to on-campus access, 2% are under embargo and 1% are confidential. For 9%, data on accessibility are missing. The 84% OA digital theses represent 32% of all theses (print and digital). The survey reveals also differences between France and Germany, especially: France: The part of OA theses compared to all theses increased from 12% of the PhD theses in 2009 to 24% of the PhD theses in 2012. There is an increase of embargoed PhD theses as enforced by the libraries, from 1% of the ETD in 2009 to 7% in 2012. On-campus access restrictions of ETD increased from 5% in 2009 to 28% in 2012. Germany: The number of OA theses increased from 41% of all theses in 2009 to 47% in 2012. Furthermore, very few libraries reported access restrictions. There are however some individual cases – less than 1% – where the author asked for restrictions because of confidential material etc. Following the EDAR project, the project team prepares a proposal for the European Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. The project « Electronic Theses and Dissertations for Open Access » (ETD4OA) will support the coordination of European infrastructures and open access (OA) policies in the field of electronic theses and dissertations. Together with stakeholders and OA initiatives, it will address barriers and access restrictions, and it will take actions (active communication, recommendations, advice) to promote and develop input, openness and impact of ETD in existing open repositories and portals. »

URL : http://archivesic.ccsd.cnrs.fr/sic_01045115/fr/

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A Current Snapshot of Institutional Repositories: Growth Rate, Disciplinary Content and Faculty Contributions

« INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study was to examine current institutional repository (IR) content in order to assess the growth and breadth of content as it reflects faculty participation, and to identify successful strategies for increasing that participation. Previous studies have shown that faculty-initiated submissions to IRs, no matter the platform, are uncommon. Repository managers employ a variety of methods to solicit and facilitate faculty participation, including a variety of print marketing tools, presentations, and one-on-one consultations.

METHODS This mixed method study examined faculty content in IRs through both a quantitative analysis of repository content and growth rate and a qualitative survey of repository administrators. Repositories using the Digital Commons repository platform, hosted by Berkeley Electronic Press, were examined in the fall and winter of 2013-2014 to assess the disciplinary scope of faculty content (n=107) and to measure the growth rate of IR content (n=203). Repository administrators at 205 institutions were surveyed to investigate what methods they used to facilitate faculty participation and their perceptions about the effectiveness of these methods.

RESULTS Mean and median growth rates of IRs have increased since measured in 2007, with variance depending upon size and type of academic institution and age of the IR. Disciplinary content in IRs is unevenly distributed, with the Sciences predominantly represented. IR administrators remain actively involved in the submission process and in the promotion of their IRs. Personal contact with individuals or groups of faculty is the most used and successful interaction method.

CONCLUSION Though IR growth rate has increased, the growth is not consistent across all IRs and does not yet pose a challenge to traditional models of scholarly publication. The rising amount of faculty content in IRs indicates faculty are increasingly willing to participate in the IR movement. However, faculty involvement may be more passive than active. »

URL : A Current Snapshot of Institutional Repositories: Growth Rate, Disciplinary Content and Faculty Contributions

Alternative URL : http://jlsc-pub.org/jlsc/vol2/iss3/3/

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Identification of Core Journals and Analysis of Collaboration Networks Among Researchers in Ibero America

« INTRODUCTION In this paper we survey scientific production published in Ibero American journals in four subject areas: Medicine, Education, Administration & Finance, and Psychology. The aim of the paper is to provide a view of the available state-of-the-art of Ibero American publications in Open Access journals compiled in well-respected repositories such as Redalyc.

METHODS The scholarly Open Access production in Ibero America was analysed using data from Redalyc during the period between 2005 and 2007 for the four areas mentioned above, using data and metadata such as author affiliation and subject area.

RESULTS The data analysis carried out in this paper identifies those journals that compose the core and first Bradford zone for the subject area in question. These journals are therefore those that condense the majority of relevant articles for a researcher in that particular field. The application of network analysis allows us to map the collaboration networks, per country, of researchers publishing in Ibero America.

DISCUSSION & CONCLUSION The analysis presented here reflects the status of journals in the areas in question reflecting the information held in the repository’s database. The authors conclude that a careful revision and improvement of the requirements that editors and journals require of their authors is of paramount importance for emerging online electronic libraries such as Redalyc. »

URL : Identification of Core Journals and Analysis of Collaboration Net

Alternative URL : http://jlsc-pub.org/jlsc/vol2/iss3/4/

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All That Glisters: Investigating Collective Funding Mechanisms for Gold Open Access in Humanities Disciplines

« BACKGROUND This article sets out the economic problems faced by the humanities disciplines in the transition to gold open access and outlines the bases for investigations of collective funding models. Beginning with a series of four problems, it then details the key players in this field and their various approaches to collective “procurement” mechanisms.

DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT The Open Library of Humanities seeks to instigate a collective funding model for an open access megajournal and multijournal system that should enable for a phased transition to a gold open access model that does not require author-facing article processing charges. Libraries who participate then have a governance stake in the platform.

NEXT STEPS The project is currently working towards sustainability and launch. Authors’ pledged papers are being called in and libraries are signing up to the model. »

URL : All That Glisters: Investigating Collective Funding Mechanisms for Gold Open Access in Humanities Disciplines

Alternative URL : http://jlsc-pub.org/jlsc/vol2/iss3/5/

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Open Access in Higher Education-Strategies for Engaging Diverse Student Cohorts

« With growth in online education, students gain tertiary qualifications through a mode more suited to their demographics such as work and life balance, learning styles and geographical accessibility. Inevitably this has led to a growth in diversity within student cohorts.The case study described in this paper illustrates strategies based on informed learning design for educating diverse student cohorts in an online program offered by Swinburne University of Technology. The case, an open-access, undergraduate information systems program, attracts mature age students studying while balancing employment and family commitments. The program’s open-access facet is the ‘no entry requirements’ such as prerequisite studies. Hence, many students enter the program via non-traditional pathways bringing significant differences in experience and consequent skill bases. The program’s innovative pedagogy encourages students to engage via active learning with tailored assessments, interactive communication via discussion boards and facilitated real-time sessions and formative feedback which include audio components. »

URL : Open Access in Higher Education-Strategies for Engaging Diverse Student Cohorts

Alternative URL : http://openpraxis.org/index.php/OpenPraxis/article/view/132

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The evolution of open access to research and data in Australian higher education

« Open access (OA) in the Australian tertiary education sector is evolving rapidly and, in this article, we review developments in two related areas: OA to scholarly research publications and open data. OA can support open educational resource (OER) efforts by providing access to research for learning and teaching, and a range of actors including universities, their peak bodies, public research funding agencies and other organisations and networks that focus explicitly on OA are increasingly active in these areas in diverse ways. OA invites change to the status quo across the higher education sector and current momentum and vibrancy in this area suggests that rapid and significant changes in the OA landscape will continue into the foreseeable future. General practices, policies, infrastructure and cultural changes driven by the evolution of OA in Australian higher education are identified and discussed. The article concludes by raising several key questions for the future of OA research and open data policies and practices in Australia in the context of growing interest in OA internationally. »

URL : The evolution of open access to research and data in Australian higher education

Alternative URL : http://journals.uoc.edu/index.php/rusc/article/view/v11n3-picasso-phelan